Family Ties
by UOFLfan7
Summary: Batman is seemingly dead, Gotham is in ruins, and one man with a vendetta against the Bat Family is out for blood. Deathstroke, looking for vengeance, targets the Bat Family in a mad quest to prove that no one man is perfect, to prove that no one man is above the law, to prove that with every reaction there is a reaction...and sometimes that reaction...ends with suffering.


_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Batman or any related characters. They are own by DC Comics._

_The Batcave_

_3/13/13_

_Midnight_

The silent _drip, drop_ of water falling peacefully on the ground echoed throughout the cave, the welcoming tribute to Jason Todd laid serenely in its case untainted and untouched by the cold, vile hands of evil, the giant computer screen with data on all of Gotham's meanest crazies was a welcoming reminder of the cold hearted world that laid in wait outside of the peaceful cave, however all of that ceased to exist in time and space as one gunshot changed the batcave from a place of hope and remembrance to a place of despair and terror.

Batman quickly dodged out of the way, the gunshot barely scraping his leg, as he rolled to his left. Another gunshot, this time it met its mark as Batman felt a sharp pain in his side.

_"Shit…to slow." _Batman thought to himself as he attempted to stand to his feet, but the burning pain knocked him back down.

A man wearing an orange and black costumed hoped down from one of the cliffs and scuffed as he stared down at the weak and terrified animal at his feet. He kicked it in its side, and proceeded to wipe the dirt off his right boot on to its silly cape.

"You dress like an animal, you fight like an animal, you talk like an animal, and you treat others like an animal would treat its prey. You have no respect for others and only see the basics in things. You call yourself the world's greatest detective, yet you can't look past the exterior and into one's interior. You can't see the big picture, only the small one. I like to think I'm and honorable man, and I rarely kill in dishonorable fashions but Bruce, you've pushed me off the cliff and into the pit. You have turned my life upside down all because you failed to see the reason behind the act, no, you only saw the act and thus you acted without thought and with only instinct much like an animal would. You are no better than The Joker, no better than Two Face, no better than Harley Quinn, hell you are no better than even Killer Croc. Many people like to compare Gotham to its villains for a shock factor, but I am not comparing you to your greatest enemies for mere shock. I am only speaking the truth about what I see in both your exterior _and you interior. _Bruce, you like to think you're doing Gotham a service, like you doing something good for once. You like to think that you are making up for what you caused when you were younger, like to think that you are making up for your parents' deaths. Who knows? Maybe in you sick and twisted mind, you actually think you're doing good and right by committing the crimes against humanity that you have committed, and maybe if you would stop and think about the actions you act upon, maybe you would actually _be helping_ Gotham.

Alas, you are nothing more than a mere animal, and you must be put down like one. Without respect. Without thought. Without…honor. You don't get a heroes death Batman, not tonight. Tonight you get the death you deserve." The man preached.

"You're wrong. I think about every action I do before doing it. I go through hours of research and careful thinking before acting out, and during those precious hours the very thing I have to think about putting down could be murdering a mother or a father in cold blood. I have a sense of morals, and you know that as well as I. I have looked past your exterior, and inside all I see is pure, twisted, evil. You sympathize with nobody. You are a cold blooded killer, and nothing can change the crimes you have committed. Nothing can save you from your sins. Even if you kill me, there are a whole line of heroes…_real _heroes that will and can take you out effortlessly. You're no match for every one of them. If you kill me now, you're going to be the most wanted man in the damn universe." Batman warned.

"Clever Bruce, trying to by your time…trying to talk your way out of this. You can't convince me not to kill your Bruce…you've cause me and my family too much pain and have caused too much blood. Its time you die. I'm sorry it has to be this way, I truly am. I wish we could have had a fight man to man, winner takes all, but no…I can't give you that honor of dying like a warrior. You're scum and you're going to die like scum." The man replied, spitting on Batman before raising the pistol to Batman's head.

Batman smiled under his mask, one more step closer and he'll be able to kick him in the gut, he'll be able to escape. All he needed was one…more…step.

The man, almost through some divine will, stepped forward one more step. Stepped forward into Batman's range. Batman kicked the man in the gut and kipped up to his feet, stumbling a little due to the pain in his side. He limped away, trying to escape from the cave, trying to escape from what once was his Garden of Eden. The man aimed and fired another shot, hitting Batman in the leg. Batman stumbled but kept running. Another shot, hitting him in the arm, another one skimming his head. He felt woozy; the pain was almost too much to bear. It would be all too easy to just lie down and die, lie down and give up.

"NO!" He screamed as he dove out of the cave and into the ocean below.

Batman looked back up at the cave and saw the other man standing on the cliff with a sniper. Batman felt a tear run down the side of his face as he realized what he had to do. He took a small detonator out of his utility belt. The detonator was soaked, but waterproof. He pressed the small red button as the cave behind the man exploded. A mad inferno attempted to gulf the man up, but just in the nick of time an aircraft came like a gift from the devil, and picked the man up.

"Dammit." Batman cursed under his breath as he saw the man holding onto the side of the plane with a sniper. The man took aim and shot, the bulled whistled through the air and struck Batman right in the chest…knocking him out cold. Batman saw darkness close in around him as the world grew dark and cold.

The man climbed into the plane and went up the pilot.

"Did you kill him Slade?" The pilot asked.

"You can never be sure with this guy." Slade Wilson, professional assassin, answered.

"And if he lives?" The pilot asked.

"Then I'll have to kill him all over again. For his sake, I hope he's dead…he won't want to be alive to see what I'll do to his fake family. Time to return the damn favor…he thinks he can just destroy my life…my family…my friends? No, if he's not dead then he'll have to witness the complete and utter destruction of the Bat Family as the beg for mercy at the feet of...DEATHSTROKE!" Slade Wilson exclaimed as the plane flew off into the night sky.

_Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. All comments and reviews are much appreciated. I will be alternating between this and Endless Laughter every other night. The schedule will probably look something like this:  
Monday: Family Ties_

_ Tuesday: Endless Laughter_

_ Wednesday: Family Ties_

_ Thursday: Endless Laughter_

_ Friday: Family Ties_

_ Saturday: Endless Laughter_

_ Sunday: Random Oneshot_

_ This cycle will go on into I'm finished with one of the stories in which case it will be replaced by another one. Once again thanks for reading!_


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